It is customary for measurement systems to use a number of individual measurement devices (probes) to obtain data at particular locations within the system being monitored. It is also customary for the measurement system to keep track of each probe by knowing, for example, its identity, its type, what units it measure in, etc. This information pertaining to each probe (called metadata) is stored in a measurement system database for interpretation of data from the various probes and for probe configuration purposes.
In a system with thousands (or millions) of probes, distribution of configuration information to the devices can be burdensome on both the server and the probes. As an example, consider a system that has twenty thousand different configurations based on such criteria as: time, location, or another measured quantity. It would be burdensome to communicate the entire set of configuration data to every probe, both in terms of network bandwidth as well as probe resources. However, the probes need to know what their current configuration should be at any given moment and asking a configuration server for advice frequently would increase the communication requirements significantly.